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MADRID Artemi Panarin Jersey , Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona face the longest league trip of the season on Saturday as they look to open up a nine-point lead at the top of the BBVA Primera Liga.
Wednesday's 3-1 win away to Sporting Gijon means Barca have not played the same number of games as title rivals, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, who both play their respective matches (against Villarreal and Malaga) on Sunday.
That means victory in Las Palmas will put Barca 9 points clear for 24 hours at least and pile the pressure on their pursuers, if coach Luis Enrique is able to ensure his side are still fresh after a daunting 2016 schedule.
Barca's run to their third consecutive final of the King's Cup knockout tournament, plus the midweek trip to Gijon means they have played two games a week since the start of 2016, a total of 14 matches in just 7 weeks and Saturday will be number 15.
Luis Enrique rested Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta and Sergi Roberto in midweek and they will presumably all return on Saturday with Adriano, Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu and Arda Turam stepping down.
Sergi Busquets is also out through suspension and the Barca coach could consider resting Gerard Pique ahead of next week's difficult Champions League clash away to Arsenal on Tuesday night.
Las Palmas meanwhile receive Barca in the relegation zone after last weekend's 2-0 defeat away to Sevilla, which was a game which just about summed up their season. Short of cash Quique Setien has a side built around home grown talent such as Jonathan Viera, who are capable of playing bright attacking football, but who just lack the bite in attack to hurt more powerful rivals.
Las Palmas will try and maintain their passing game on Saturday, which should provide for an entertaining game, but if they try to swap blows against Barca's firepower, the chances are they will come of worse.
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JOHANNESBURG, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Africa is loosing over 50 billion U.S. dollars each year through illicit financial outflows, the bulk of which are made by multinational companies, former South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday.
In his address to the 6th session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, Johannesburg, Mbeki said multinational companies were illegally moving billion of dollars out of Africa, depriving the continent of the much needed cash.
"It is estimated that over the last 50 years, Africa lost in excess of 1 trillion dollars in illicit financial outflows," he said.
"The figure of 50 billion U.S. dollars is therefore an underestimate as it excludes such elements as trade in services and intangibles, proceeds of bribery and trafficking in drugs, people and firearms," said Mbeki.
Mbeki said it was wrong for such huge amounts to be illegally transferred out of the continent considering the immense developmental challenges that Africa is facing.
He called on PAP to implement the 2011 recommendations of the High Panel of the African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on steps to be taken in stopping the illegal transfer of these funds by the multinational companies.
He said, "Indeed in its Declaration on Illicit Financial Flows, the AU Assembly has expressed the need to ensure that Illicit Financial Flows and their impact on domestic resources mobilization is given the necessary attention by the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development, and in this regard, this stresses the need for robust international cooperation to address the problem."
Mbeki said the illicit flows contributed a large percentage of the problems which Africa is facing today.
"The United Nations has estimated that the number of Africans living on less than 1.25 dollars a day increased from 290 million in 1990 to 414 million in 2010. In addition, per capita GDP in Africa is one fifth, that is, 20 percent of the global average figure.
"The African Development Bank and others estimate that Africa needs an additional 30 to 50 billion U.S. dollars annually to address its infrastructure needs," Mbeki said.
The former president called on Africa to do all within its power to ensure that the estimated 50 billion U.S. dollars being shipped out per year remains in the continent to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment.
In its investigations, the High Panel found that 60 percent of the illicit flows are done by large commercial companies. It further found that criminal activities such as drug trafficking accounted for about 30 percent, with corruption contributing to the remaining 10 percent.
Mbeki said it was unfair for the international community to think that Africa can solve this problem on its own.
He said, "The outflows from Africa end up somewhere else in the world. The various tax havens and financial secrecy jurisdictions in Africa and elsewhere in the world are at the center of the problem of illicit financial outflows since they are among the major receiving countries for these outflows.
"This calls for concerted international action to address this challenge since it is clear that transparency in terms of financial transactions is indeed key to achieving success in the fight against the illicit outflows."
Mbeki also revealed that many African countries lack the capacity to stop the illicit financial outflows.
The High Panel found that the illicit financial outflows were taking place in the commercial sector through transfer pricing, tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance, trade misinvoicing, tax incentives, double-taxation agreements and in many other ways.
Mbeki highlighted some of the steps which Africa should take as a matter of urgency to address the problem.
"African countries need to pay closer attention to illicit flows from the commercial sector. This means developing the required capacities, establishing or strengthening necessary institutions including tra. Cheap Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Sports Jerseys Cheap Sports Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Free Shipping Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys